A police department is defending its officers after they fired more than 20 rounds into a car because they "reasonably believed they were pursuing” a man who had escaped from jail.
The post Cops Mistook Man for Escaped Convict So They Murdered Him and Called It ‘Reasonable’ appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A police officer responding to a call this week allegedly lost control of his SUV sending it plowing into a family on the sidewalk, killing two children.
After a pursuit, police had their suspect walk backward toward the car—but he started dancing—so they sicced their K9 on him.
Kankakee, IL – An extreme joy ride caught on police dash camera revealed a low-speed chase with a bulldozer that eventually crushed a police cruiser when cops attempted to stop the dozer by pulling a vehicle in front of the stolen construction vehicle.
After the Kankakee Police Department initially told WLS-TC that no video of the incident existed, they later relinquished the footage to the station—without explaining why they initially denied there was a video.
Police investigators now say footage of the early morning Aug. 24 incident shows Austin White, 18, engaging in a low-speed chase with police while driving a bulldozer stolen from a construction site.
The comical video footage shows multiple officers chasing the construction vehicle down the street, and includes numerous angles of the chase.
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During the chase, one officer had the bright idea to pull his police cruiser in front of the 20-ton bulldozer in an effort to block White’s escape, which resulted in the vehicle being crushed under the construction vehicle.
Officers continued to pursue the construction vehicle for another 12 blocks, as police can be seen attempting to jump onto the dozer.
Eventually, White stopped the vehicle. Immediately, police pulled him from the cab and hit him with a Taser.
Police say that White, who is being charged with driving under the influence of drugs, has never had a driver’s license, and that he is currently being held on six felony charges, including attempted murder, criminal damage to property and theft.
White should consider himself lucky, as one of the most commonly used reasons for justifying police killings is “he or she used their vehicle as a weapon.”
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This tactic of American police, to claim their lives were endangered because someone attempted to drive off, has become quite familiar. It is also considerably successful at exonerating killer cops.
Over the past few years, there have been numerous cases in which we’ve seen unarmed individuals, killed while in their vehicles, by fearful trigger-happy cops. One of the most widely covered of those cases is that of Samuel Dubose, who was killed by officer Ray Tensing. Despite the fact that Tensing was in no danger of being run over, he shot and killed the Dubose.
Another tragic case of police killing an unarmed man in a car is that of Zachary Hammond, who was shot in the side and back while trying to flee by vehicle, by an officer attempting to arrest his date for a small amount of marijuana.
In yet another heartbreaking case, a mother concerned about her son’s erratic behavior called authorities in hopes of getting her son a medical evaluation. Instead of medical evaluation, however, her son John Barry, 33, was gunned down as he attempted to back out of a parking space—with officers unloading dozens of rounds into the mentally ill man.
Thankfully, in this case, police showed remarkable restraint, as they likely could have shot and killed White only to be later exonerated.
Watch the dash cam footage below:
When a video of a police officer violently arresting a nurse who refused to take a blood sample from an unconscious patient went viral, the main questions were: When did this incident happen, were the officers fired as a result, and why were they so adamant about getting the blood sample that they were willing to arrest a nurse who was following the law?
The incident occurred on July 26, over one month before the Body Cam footage was released. While the officer featured in the video who initiated the manhandling, Detective Jeff Payne, was taken off of the Blood Draw Unit and placed on “administrative duty,” he was still paid his full taxpayer-funded salary, and was not subject to a criminal investigation—up until the video went viral.
However, after the Body Cam footage of the arrest spread across the internet, Payne was placed on administrative leave, and Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced that a criminal investigation will be conducted in the name of “transparency and institutional accountability.”
“On the face of the evidence, there is concern that is raised about this officer’s conduct,” Gill told the Salt Lake Tribune. “But the whole point of an investigation is to gather the information about this situation.”
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In response to the video, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and Police Chief Mike Brown also held a press conference and issued statements on Friday claiming they were alarmed by the video. They insisted that changes to police blood draw policies and officer training have been made—although they did not specify what those changes were.
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However, one of the most alarming things about the rhetoric from Biskupski and Brown was their claim that seeing the video of Payne’s behavior in the media was the first time they had fully seen the Body Cam footage.
This is concerning, not only because it shows that a police chief is not paying attention to the actions of his officers, but also because Jeff Payne was not the only officer on the scene when he arrested Nurse Alex Wubbels. There were multiple officers shown in the video who stood and watched—with some even stepping in to help—as Payne grabbed Wubbels and violently arrested her.
Even if those officers present during the arrest did not feel comfortable standing up and saying something at the time, why didn’t they mention anything about it to their internal supervisors? And if they did, why was the police chief not alerted to the fact that he needed to watch the Body Cam footage in full?
As for the question of why police were so adamant about obtaining the blood of an unconscious man that Payne was willing to arrest a nurse who was following the law, and his fellow officers were willing to stand around and watch as it happened, the answer may stem from the reason why the man in question was unconscious in the first place.
William Gray, a reserve police officer from Rigby, Idaho, was the comatose patient whose blood was demanded by the Salt Lake City officers. Gray was working as a truck driver when a car crossed into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with his truck—severely injuring Gray and killing the driver of the car.
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The car that hit Gray was driven by a man who was the suspect in a Utah State Highway Patrol chase, which may explain his erratic driving. A statement released by the Rigby Police Department thanked Nurse Wubbels for “protecting Officer Gray’s rights as a patient and a victim,” and noted that Gray was the victim in the crash and “at no time was he under any suspicion of wrongdoing.”
“The Rigby Police Department would like to thank the nurse involved and hospital staff for standing firm, and protecting Officer Gray’s rights as a patient and victim. Protecting the rights of others is truly a heroic act. … It is important to remember that Officer Gray is the victim in this horrible event, and that at no time was he under any suspicion of wrongdoing. As he continues to heal, we would ask that his family be given privacy, respect, and prayers for continued recovery and peace.”
While many have speculated that the reason why Salt Lake City Police were so adamant about obtaining a sample of Gray’s blood was that they were looking for a substance that would impair his driving to the point where they could not be held liable for the chase in a future lawsuit, the truth may never be made public.
However, the fact that a police officer violently arrested a nurse for following the law and respecting the rights of an innocent patient, while multiple officers watched and even aided the arrest, and yet the police chief claims that he never even watched the Body Cam footage in its entirety, is a fact that cannot be covered up, and should be on the forefront of everyone’s mind when looking at this situation.
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South Fulton County, GA — All too often, police officers, hell bent on catching the bad guy, will create dangerous — yet entirely avoidable — situations, like shooting into crowded areas or driving dangerously through neighborhoods full of children. And, all too often, innocent lives are put at risk or lost because of these poor decisions. As a dashcam video released this week highlights, sometimes the best policy is not to pursue a suspect.
Cameron Costner, 12, and Layla Patridge, 6, were on their way to church with their grandma, Dorothy Wright, 75, last year when their lives came to a tragic end. A suspect in a stolen car crashed into to them at a high rate of speed, killing them all.
The family has since filed a lawsuit against the City of College Park police and the Atlanta police for creating this situation which led to the death of their loved ones.
“This was a non-forcible felony, which means there’s no threat to life. The threat to life didn’t begin until the chase began,” attorney Christopher Chestnut said of how both College Park and Atlanta police violated policy by engaging in this dangerous chase.
During the chase, the College Park officer — apparently enthralled with the idea of driving at very high speeds through residential neighborhoods — stopped and watched as the suspect did a three point turn to avoid the Atlanta officer who just joined the chase.
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“That was the ‘I could have got you moment’ right there. That’s when it should have ended. It should have ended two minutes before the crash,” said Douglas Partridge, Layla and Cameron’s father.
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But, it did not end there.
“If he does not turn around again, Mrs. Wright and her two grandchildren would be here today,” Chestnut said.
“To keep them blocked in, to keep them from going anywhere else, but they let him turn all the way around and continue chasing,” Joi Partridge, the children’s mother said.
Instead of ramming the car that had slowed to make the three-point turn, both officers allowed the suspect to drive off. Two minutes later, he would slam into Wright’s car.
“You can replace a car, but you can’t replace a life. A car shouldn’t be that big of a deal,” Joi Partridge said.
To add insult to injury, the high-speed chase — that left two children and their grandmother dead — did not result in an arrest. The suspected car thief was able to flee on foot and has yet to be captured by authorities.
The Atlanta police are asking anyone with information about this suspect to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.
Police released a sketch Friday of the man they say caused a crash that killed a grandmother and her two grandchildren on their way to church.Sadly, it appears that the egos of the officers got in the way of keeping safety paramount, and innocent people have suffered as a result.
Of course, the suspect is at fault for the crash. However, if police would’ve decided to back off and obeyed their chase policy, he would’ve likely not been driving so fast through a neighborhood.
When catching the bad guy takes precedence over ensuring public safety, the system is broken. There is no such thing as ‘collateral damage’ in domestic policing. Dorothy, Cameron, and Layla should still be alive.
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As TFTP has reported in the past, unfortunately, police officers die in the line of duty every year. However, only a small percentage of those deaths are from people attacking them. The major cause of death of police officers in the United States is from traffic accidents.
A study of just a single police department in Denver found that over the course of three years, 700 cops were involved in crashes. Of those 700 crashes, the majority of the time it was the officer’s fault. However, almost none of them are ever cited.
This above the law mentality coupled with irresponsible practices has created a dangerous environment for both police officers and the innocent civilians who all too often find themselves on the receiving end of a police cruiser’s front bumper or a suspect trying to outrun them. Until officers are held accountable for their dangerous actions, these scenarios can and will continue to happen.
Raw dashcam footage below:
Clark County, IN — A dramatic high-speed chase involving the Indiana State Police was captured on video Thursday as it came to a violent end in an Indiana corn field. Unlike many high-speed chases in the past caught on video, the camera in the chopper above did not pan away when the violence began.
The chase, which lasted for 45 minutes, began in a different town and involved a suspect who was wanted for stealing purses. Robert Ellis was wanted for thieving purses from women at gas stations while they were inside paying or pumping gas.
“It looks like he’s getting gas and most people are not aware of their surroundings and what he’s actually doing, he’s watching you,” Detective Chris Starks said in a report looking for thier suspect. “As that person is punching in their code, or punching in their payment type on the gas pump, that’s when he strikes.”
His crimes, if he is found guilty, certainly warrant punishment, especially if he caused injury to anyone in the process, but not from cops acting as judge, jury, and executioner.
However, that appears to be what happened.
After leading police through multiple rural areas, Ellis turned off into a cornfield off Highway 60 in Clark County. As Ellis cruises across the field, more than 20 police cruisers are seen in pursuit with at least a dozen breaking off the road to pursue him through the farmland.
Ellis spins out and loses control, sending the backend of his red pickup truck into an irrigation canal. He was effectively stopped at this point.
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After his vehicle was immobilized, police, as they should, got out with guns drawn. However, as we see Ellis put his hands out the window in an obvious attempt to surrender, he is swarmed by cops ready to end this chase with blows from their fists.
More than a dozen officers join in on the attack. Even though officers moved Ellis to the other side of the cruiser in a what looked like an attempt to shield their attack from the news chopper above, from the camera angle, we can still see multiple cops deliver blow after blow. One cop even sprawls out across the hood of the car in an attempt to get in on the action.
After several cops were seen punching him, despite no reports of a weapon, and the fact that we can see him in handcuffs, police continue to punch and shove Ellis.
Again, he may very well deserve this treatment for his actions, but it is not the job of police to punish, especially considering how often they are simply wrong.
As WLKY reports, a spokesman for Indiana State police said it’s difficult to comment on the situation not knowing the exact details on whether or not the suspect was armed with a weapon or resisting arrest.
“I cannot see the suspect that’s on the ground, I do not know what the suspect is doing. I do know we have several officers that are trying to take that person into custody. But, I can tell you this, if there were any improprieties by the Indiana state police trooper our superiors will review that video and that trooper will be held accountable for it. Again, if that happened we will stand responsible for anything that happens that any of our troopers could possibly do, we’ll stand responsible for that,” Indiana State police Sgt. Jerry Goodin said.
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Police found more than a dozen purses in Ellis’ vehicle, which more likely than not means he is guilty. Sadly, however, their handling of Ellis while apprehending him may result in a bad person receiving taxpayer money in the form of a lawsuit against his abusers — the cops.
This case is particularly similar to the famous chase out of Apple Valley, CA that did ind with the taxpayers being held liable for almost $1 million.
As TFTP previously reported, three sheriff’s deputies were charged with felony assault after a video captured them beating an unarmed man surrendering to officers. After falling off his stolen horse, Francis Pusok dropped onto his stomach with his arms and legs outstretched. But video caught several police officers surrounding Pusok, striking him in the head and the groin as he surrendered with his hands behind his back.
Chandler, AZ – In a scene that seems straight out of a Hollywood satire film, an Arizona man was caught on video going through an In-N-Out drive thru while he was involved in a “low speed” chase with police.
According to reports, police attempted to stop the 35-year-old burger-loving suspect just before 10:30 pm. The suspect then fled at low speeds, leading police on a chase through South Phoenix into East Valley. The chase then took a strange turn when the suspect pulled into the In-N-Out Burger location near Chandler Boulevard and Ray Road.
While sitting in the drive thru, the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Josh Adkins, appears to order food before pulling away several minutes later.
After leaving the restaurant parking lot, Adkins reportedly exited his vehicle and attempted to flee through backyards, where he was pursued and eventually surrendered to officers.
According to police, Adkins was arrested and charged with suspicion of unlawful flight from law enforcement, aggravated assault-domestic violence, and unlawful imprisonment.
While this chase may seem humorous and thankfully ended peacefully, sadly this is more often than not an exception to the rule. As The Free Thought Project previously reported, a shocking study has found that, on average, one person every day is killed or injured during a high-speed chase.
According to the study, more than 5,000 bystanders and passengers have been killed in police car chases since 1979. Tens of thousands more were injured as officers repeatedly pursued drivers at high speeds and in hazardous conditions.
Even more shocking, is the fact that, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Institute of Justice, a whopping 91 percent of high-speed chases are in response to non-violent crime; most of which involve only minor traffic infractions.
These statistics are yet further proof that there is no law so trivial that the police will not kill you to enforce it. As America slips further into a dystopian nightmare, it’s time for people to wake up to the reality of what policing has become in 2016.
Johnny Liberty is a researcher and investigative journalist. You can follow him on twitter @LibertyUnltd
